Apparatus for and method of machining valve wedge with disc grinder



May 1, 1956 .1. P. VAN STEENBERG APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF MACHININGVALVE WEDGE WITH DISC GRINDER 0 a 1 ===.v v/ W 5 Filed March 19, 1953INVEN TOR. (/OHN Pom 5 95 14m jrsf/vame lei WWW tfthe cutte shav sawsthed edges. an are a ters ed eat atter'whi h he sh m ar emove and heiih' United States Patent ice APPARATUS sen AND; Maryann ea MAGHIMNG vauts wanes tIH Dis GRINDER Powers Van Steenberg New York, Y. applic i n Mrsh 19, 195s. ena! Nos ss-.442

' 7 c aims. (Ch siizs T e p s nt in n at s o v l es and neit svl r y ofprecision manufacture and which generally consist of a arae plate equaln diameter te. thatef the. u a Q h fat d, A plurali y of amines arepaced mend he edseef the p a to receive amping teels adapted ts h ldhehes er t ers on. the surfa e cf the. pla e, Sense with Other utt s han a stsa sh cut ng ed e Sh ms are p aced unde the se hed utters ttoughen the.

hing ish done us n a f the when on th pl e, n ether 9 pre nt di ng ereush h s ef the v lve sea i is mpo tan th t pl e e ed with a l et a oths in pr per dj s m nt, Fsr h mete th m thed qt tefae ns v l e wedges ssht y h dehe t a s ew ra e nd thus a ot pra t al er a me han zed uni esshrtaee waves and sha ter m r s app ar, nat'tisularly whe WQIK- his hheat of th harder metals, uch as Maha a stainless steel and Stellite. Infitting the wedge to the body seats, head lessen n e fili had been neessary ts pr id he prqp seati g an s tor th wed e The pr s in nti n a mss eveteetne he d f ulties and disadva a e of p i de ice b pr viding ant. a arms a d a meth dt r r fae aa val e. we es \yitha dies rinder ndwhi h utilizes qu pme t gene ally available in theev reset s shope s.Anether ohiee o the n n eh is th m ies s an natatqs errese tihg. alvewedges wh h, is s? al nd eseh mieel. n m h 'e, tfieieht s ene atih ndsra le 1 s heather-sweet of he inventi n i to nse dee me hssl ef .rseating valve w g s hich m y be readily learned by theaverage mechanicand performed rapidly at a low labor cost per valve.

'In accordance with the invention this is accomplished by usinga'readily renewable abrasive disc forthe cutting surface to reface theseat. The use of the abrasive disc is advantageous as it is nowpossibleto rapid y eface seats made from stainless steel "and other hardmetals,

Other hje ts and advan age s the ih e his will be apparent from th ll wg de erip en and t ess th as ehihaany hs r w ng wh eh show y o exam lean emb d men e inven ionfIn the drawings: r t t Eia t 1 is a s de ViewOf a gate valve wedge cutting as iihe i h a we ge s i ding nesiti hh re2 is a en e of e gat a ve weeseshevvn its side view is F nite 1- t F g 3is e e view of th s p rtin eta hle. able for the abrasive disc.

Figure 4 1s an end view of the rotatable table with an abrasive disc inposition.

Fi ur 's a vertical s et eh l view th gh th ratatable table.

Figure 6 s a erti l ec ional ew th ugh th sate. a e d l ra n h P su epoin s fer atie cut ing.-

Refe r ng t th in s. ther s shown i F ure l a a e a ve wedgereseetiss'ep sxa us c mpris ide frames 2 and 3, a bed frame 4 and a topmember or r ram 5- he mbe 4 ca e a hssh memb 6 re a ab v ppe t sh t cryin a r tatable pl te Th sh 7 i i e by he ele se rs 9 an l sses being tth en of a shaf .1 fe a e e :12 As eh an eh a d ve n switsh, 14 s p oide e sen: nestien t a sour e f e es iee s rel a11dv t P ov de means forthe quick and easy reversal of rotationlof the disc 8.

The vertical or side frames 2 or 3 are attached to theflame by bolts 15and Li wise, the cr ss fratiie by bolts 17 and 18. In, the center of thecross frame 5 s a bu hin me e b s 2 a n e h e d d n er es for n ment bya th ea p n 2 at a spindle or point contact member 22, a'guiding surface.4 eing prbvided e ween the t r an npsttiehs of the spin or as urin th anm nt of the. pindle in the bushi g 20- A the ten en at the t read d P9Pes Z1 i a w eel 2 fe up a d an dewn er he mea o he sp d e 22.

A gate valve wedge 30 with its stem 31 is shown in Pos tion n the et h-lla e 8- A th y e seen in Figur 2 h wedg as a generally ei 'h e sh iaee,the seating edge thereof projecting outwardly along the p riph ry he asdi s dv at 32! In s e iew a ess in igure 1, the Wedge is made with itsbottom end 35 na ewe t a s op end 35- h wedge emb r adapted to beinserted in a gate valve having seating Sill;

aces a s t d to e n a e by t in sthf s 3 of the wedge 30. Leakage of thevalve may occur by reasQn of wear on the surface of either or both thegai valve wedge and its seats in the valve body.

As may be seen in Fig re 5, the rotatable plate 8 is made with dowelpins iiland 41 spaced on either side of its center line so as to receivein position one or more laps or alignment discs 42. The alignment disc42 is made preferably of the same diameter as the periphery Qf the seat32 of the wedge 30 with which it is to be used. Thus h wed e m m y h quiy cen ered i nesit eh u de the p dle 22 b al gn ng the dg of the alig mn d scs w h he edge o e w dg n ra ive disc 44 is attached to the outersurface of the alignment disc 42 by any suitable adhesive or by anyother con: ventional means.

After the wedge member is positioned under the alignmerit disc 42, thespindle 22 is moved downwardly and seated by rotation of the wheel 25.-It should be noted that the point of contact of the tip of the spindle22 with the wedge 30 is not at the center of the top surface there of,but rather is at a point in axial alignment with the center of thebottom side in contact with the abrasive disc 44. The proper position ofthe spindle 22 is aut w matically assumed upon the positioning of thewedge memb 39 with it ed n en wi the a ie meat h s 42 e d wi b t he P it A o i ure 6- Is- Pa ent d y 1,, H 6.

8. While the seat may be ground by utilizing a plate 8 having only onedirection of rotation, it has been found that certain advantages areobtained by grinding the seat 32 firstin one direction and then in theother direction,

inasmuch as a flatter surface results, and stock removal is faster.After having been ground to the desired finish, the wedge 30 is thentested by engagement with its seat in the gate body. By-the use ofbluing or otherwise, the ground surface may be observed for sufficiencyof contact. -In the event bottom end 34 is slightly too wide, a slightamount of grinding may be done with the point contact member in theposition B of 'Figure 6. By so moving the pressure point of the spindle22,, a somewhat greater grinding speed is had at the bottom end of thewedge, thereby reducing its thickness at a greater rate than is thereduction of the, topend 35. r i

Inlike manner it the top portion 35 is found to have an excessivethickness, a uniform reduction of the surface may be had greater at thetop end 35 by moving the'spindle 22 to the position C of Figure 6. Inthis case anincreasedrotative speed of the abrasive disc will occur atthe top end of the wedge 30 thereby reducing its thickness at a greaterrate than at the bottom end 34. However, by reason of the flat surfaceof the abrasive disc 44, a uniform surface is provided which requires nofitting after the top or bottom ends have been ground to the desiredangle.

While it is not often necessary to do so, the spindle 22 may be appliedto the'upper surface of the wedge member at one or the other sides ofthe center point A, but along the plane of the point A. This means acorrection could be made in the angle of surface of the wedge member tofit a pair of body seats in which one is thicker than the other at theside portions thereof.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with reference toa specific embodiment thereof, it will be understood that otherembodiments may be resorted to without departing from the invention. Forexample, while the alignment disc 42 has been described as being of thesame size as the periphery of the wedge 30, the alignmentdisc may bemade larger so as to accommodate wedges of various sizes. In this casecentering of the wedge would be accomplished by sighting the centeringof the wedge member on the alignment disc. For example, while therotatable member 8 has been shown as the supporting means for the gatevalve member 30, an alternative construction might be had in which thespindle 22 is positioned under the gate'wedge member 30 and therotatable member 8 is positioned at the top thereof. Likewise, theentire assembly might be rotated through an angle of ninety degrees orthereabouts so that the abrasive disc would work in a vertical plane.However, the preferred position is shown with the rotatable plate underthe wedge as the more practical construction for most of the wedges.However, for the largersizes it may be preferable to have the rotatableplate positioned over the wedge. Therefore, the form of the inventionset out above should be considered as illustrative and not as limitingthe scope of the following claims.

t l. The method of evenly refacing a gate valve Wedge comprisingproviding a rotating abrasive surface of the samesize as the face of thegate valve wedge, centering the wedge over the rotating abrasivesurface, urg ing the gate valve wedge against the rotating abrasivesurface,the force being applied to the wedge approximately at a point inaxial alignment with the center poin of the surface being reseated.

2. The method of evenly refacing a gate val'vewe'dge comprisingproviding a rotating abrasive surface of-the same size as the face ofthe gate valve wedge, centering the Wedge over-the rotating abrasivesurface, urging the wedge against the rotating abrasive surface, theforce being applied to the opposite"'side-"of the wedgebe'ing re seatedand at a point in axial alignment with the center point of the surfacebeing reseated.

3. The method of evenly refacing a gate valve wedge by reducing thethickness of the bottom thereof comprising providing a rotating abrasivesurface of the same size as the face of the gate valve wedge, centeringthe wedge over the rotating abrasive surface, and urging the wedgeagainst the abrasive surface, providing a point, and applying forcethrough the point against the top-"of the wedge in axial alignment withthe center point of the surface being reseated. I

4. A gate valve wedge refacing apparatus comprising aframe, pointcontact bearing means carried by the frame, a flat abrasive disc of thesame size as the abrasive disc, and Wedge stop means adapted .to holdthe wedge against rotation; with the disc, thewedge surface adapted tobe positionedagainst the abrasive disc" centered thereon-by.alignmentflof theedge thereof, 'the' point contact means adapted to bemoved .into' co'ntactlj with the other face of the wedge by theadjustable means to hold the wedge in centered relationship with, theabra sive disc providing evengrinding pressure over the wedge face.

'5. A gate valve wedge refacing apparatus comprising a:

frame, point contact bearing means carried by the frame,

a flat abrasive disc of the same size as the facev of the wedge to berefaced, reversible means for rotatingthe abrasive disc, the abrasivedisc'carried by the frarn'gefwith the center of the disc'in alignmentwith the axis of the point contact bearing means, adjustable means to'vary the spacing between the point contact means and the'.

abrasive disc, and wedge stop meansadaptedito hold the" wedge againstrotation with the disc, the wedge surface adapted to, be positionedagainst the abrasive disc and" centered. thereon by alignment of theedge thereofithe pointconta'ct meansadapted to be moved into contact:

with the other face of the wedge by the adjustablerneans' tohold'thewedge in centered relationship with the abraa sive discproviding evengrindingpressure overthe wedge 6. A' gate valve' wedge"refacing apparatus comprising a frame, pointcontact bearing meanscarried bygthei frame, a flat abrasive disc of the same size a'sdhffaceof the wedge to be refaced, means for rotating the abrasive disc,theabrasive disc carried by the frame the center of the disc inalignment with the axis of the point contactbearing means, adjustablethreaded means to vary the spacing between the point contactmeans andthe abrasive disc, and wedge stop means adapted to hold the wedgeagainst rotation with the disc, the wedge silt} face adapted to bepositioned against the abrasive disc arid centered thereon by alignmentof the edge thereof, the" abrasive disc' providing the sole support forthe wedge, the point' contact means adapted to be moved into contactwith the other face of thc'wedg'e'cbydhe" adjustable threaded means tohold the wedge .in centered relationship with the abrasive discproviding evengrindf; ing pressure over the wedge face. I

7. ,Agatevalve wedge refacing apparatus comprising the point contactmeans and the abrasive dis'c,and wedge stop means adapted to hold thewedge against rotation with the disc, the wedge surface adapted to bepositioned against the abrasive disc and centered thereon by alignmentof the edge thereof, the abrasive disc providing the sole support forthe wedge, the point contact means 5 adapted to be moved into contactwith the other face of the wedge by the adjustable threaded means tohold the wedge in centered relationship with the abrasive disc providingeven grinding pressure over the wedge face. 10

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ConnerMar. 23, Gosling Sept. 25, Mayer Mar. 9, Bugbee Sept. 2, Celinski Dec.25, Shanley Mar. 27, Wilcox Aug. 28,

Culp Mar. 18,

